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I read so many articles on the coveted “millennial” generation and how to advertise/market/appeal to them when I was brainstorming for this blog that I started to feel like I was reading about a species of animal or tribe in a foreign country. And that’s the problem with a lot of what is written about “us”; the authors aren’t “us”.

I often see articles written by people who are a few decades older than us that claim they’ve “cracked the code” on this millennial generation…I can tell just by reading the first few lines of the article if they really know their target audience. For example, the first suggestion one article made was to “Go Mobile”.

My first thought…well, duh. Sorry, but this article was written just a few weeks ago (in 2015), and if you haven’t been mobile for at least the last few years, you’re behind the times. A lot of people were using their phones to go online in 2009 – I definitely was, and I’m not even close to being the most tech-savvy millennial or individual in general. If I try and find your business on my phone (which I do…like daily) and you’re not there, I’m already on to the next business that is.

I finally read another article where marketing directors actually – gasp – asked a young (millennial) employee how they should market to his generation. His response?

“Stop trying so hard”. And I have to agree.

The thing is, “millennials” are such a diverse group of people that you can’t just market to a broad generation like you might have with Baby Boomers or GenX. Even with those generations, it’s dangerous to lump 70 million plus people together and say one-size-fits-all. You’ve got different genders, ages (18 year olds are vastly different than 34 year olds, so that right there can mess up your marketing plan), races, political affiliations, goals, careers, likes, dislikes, you name it that you have to take into account for who you’re trying to sell to.

My first piece of advice I can give, as a millennial, is (if you’re trying to market to us) to hire millennials who actually are interested in your product/brand and then ask for their input and thoughts on how it would be best marketed. Who knows better how to reach a target audience than someone actually in your target audience? Don’t just discount them because they’ve only been in the workforce for three hours. I can’t tell you how many times I wish I could tell people “that’s not going to work” or “you have it so wrong” when I read about people debating on how to market to “the young people”. Do what you want with what they have to say, but I would highly recommend at least asking.

Another piece of advice I read in articles constantly is “make an online presence”, either through Facebook or Twitter or Instagram. Which is great, but considering a lot of millennials are on these social media sites all the time, it has to be more. You can’t just create a Twitter account, get a couple hundred followers, and tweet once every week or two and call it a day. I’m not going to follow you or be a Facebook friend if there’s nothing there. Doing something different to engage with your consumers will get the millennials to talk about you on their Facebooks or Twitters or Instagrams and that’s the best way to market to young people. The Chive just did a great feature on a Facebook page created by two comedians called “Customer Service” that replies to ridiculous complaints people post on a company’s Facebook page. They’re hilarious, fun to read, and “with the times” – which even if you disagree with or don’t like, at least understand that a huge number of millennials are with the times and love companies that aren’t typical and go outside the box.

Lastly…although I’m sure the Baby Boomer generation would like to distance themselves from us entitled, narcissistic, and disconnected millennials, we’re not really that different in terms of what’s important to us. We’re facing the largest amount of student debt in history, and doing what we were told to do (by many Baby Boomers) – going to college – got us degrees but not necessarily jobs, and if we did get jobs many of them don’t exactly pay enough to justify this massive amount of debt that only grows the longer we can’t pay it off. So before you think that you’re marketing to a generation that will pay any dollar amount to have a product or service they like, think again. Price might not be everything that we look for, but it’s up there.

It’s been more than ten years since Yelp has been founded, and the online review site has grown to be one of (if not the) biggest consumer review website available. Since April 2015, it is estimated that the website averages about 142 million visitors monthly, and has accumulated around 77 million reviews. With over 2.1 million local businesses to review and an estimated $118 million quarterly revenue, Yelp is certainly in the big leagues now.

But with the value of Yelp stock decreasing and Facebook’s two latest actions – including the addition of professional and trusted reviews on restaurant Facebook pages and the new tool Place Tips, which features the photos and reviews of businesses from people you actually know – Yelp may have to rethink its credibility and concept. Are you going to Trust Christina C., someone you’ve never met, or a professional restaurant critic from New York Magazine? This is especially true since the website now has a new target industry: healthcare.

Yelp offers customers a rating from 1 to 5 stars in which they can judge their experience. That works fine if consumers are judging a business based on just one aspect (like cleanliness, or availability of products). But according to an article from DelawareOnline, healthcare isn’t being judged on a few general expectations, and people have very different mindsets when it comes to what makes their experiences with doctors and physicians positive and negative.

When it comes to doctors, people rate their experience as negative if the nurses or doctors are rude, or if they waited a long amount of time and their appointment with their doctor was a short amount of time. On the contrast, with physicians, it seems patients only care about the result (is the cancer gone? Can I move my arm?) and don’t even take into account wait times or staff demeanor. It’s not hard to see the difficulty; doctors and physicians do the best to treat a patient in the best way they see fit, and sometimes this means less than stellar results. Does that warrant a Yelp review that has real, damaging consequences to the doctor? Or should the patient simply accept what they are given?

The public’s expectations about other businesses are also extremely varying. Take restaurants, for example; when looking at Yelp reviews for one popular Tucson restaurant, the most recent review was given 5 stars. You’d think the review would be extensive, expanding on the food, service, and other details. Instead, the review said, “Such amazing food and an eclectic menu that my vegetarian girlfriend absolutely loves”. A 13-word review that barely gives any information about the restaurant doles out the highest praise. Meanwhile, a Yelp review that was given just a couple weeks ago read, “The food here is really good. I love the pastry case, I love the local coffee, I love the extensive menu. The problem is…waiting in line for 90 minutes or more” and was given only 3 stars for something the restaurant can’t do much about.

It seems that Yelp needs to do some rethinking: they need to cater more to their customers’ varying needs instead of giving a much too simple rating system that reflects not only many different aspects of businesses and now healthcare, but also a wide array of consumers that value many different aspects of those businesses. A restaurant’s good food but poor service might earn the business a 5-star Yelp review, or a doctor’s dedicated and effective treatments but cold bedside manner might earn a 1-star review. Yelp is still a powerful tool that can help or hinder a business; it’s both great, free advertising and marketing or can be a death wish to those businesses that receive a few bad reviews. If not…Facebook might become the new Yelp.

As a senior graphic designer, choosing the correct color system for my projects comes as second nature. However, when I first started out, things were a bit confusing. Why couldn’t I just create everything in CMYK? What the heck is a PMS color?!

I found this great infographic that explains EVERYTHING you need to know before choosing the right type of color system for your next project. So whether you’ve been a designer for a while and just need a refresher or you’re just starting out and need some clarification… take a look at the difference between CMYK, RGB and Pantone.

JPGs, GIFs, PNGs…
what do they all mean?!

How do I know when to use which?!

If you’re frustrated with different file types and knowing which one to use for your different projects, check out the infographic below for some file type trivia and tips that will help you make the right decision!

If you follow this blog, you should know by now that I always keep my eye out for interesting logo redesigns. We’re in luck this month because IHOP just rolled out their first logo redesign in 20 years!

I’m sure most of you are familiar with their previous logo. However, I wonder how many of you felt that it was kind of a downer.

Studio Tilt, the firm who was tasked with redesigning this iconic brand, found in their research that many people felt the old logo looked like a frown. For obvious reasons, this message was not the one IHOP wanted to portray to their customers. In fact, IHOP VP of Marketing Kirk Thompson said, “Our guests have told us for many years that coming to IHOP, and in many cases just thinking about our world famous pancakes, makes them smile.” With this as inspiration, Studio Tilt decided to us the smile as the main icon for the logo redesign.

The new logo takes the letters outside of the old blue box and utilizes the “o” and “p” as eyes and a nose to complete the happy face.

Although the new logo accomplishes the company’s goal of portraying their “commitment to smiles,” there are many critics out there who feel the logo missed its mark.

Is the ark overdone?

Does it remind you of tampons, rather than pancakes?
Does it look like a clown? You decide.

You are not along when trying to figure out ways to promote your business, turn your business’s news into publicity, get noticed and secure more customers through an online press release.

Online news releases allow you to put your business name on search engines which is the where customers look first. Online releases provide a broader reach than email marketing and help get your business name to the top of a Google page!

Can’t think of anything “newsworthy”? Here are some ideas:

1. Next time you win an award or have a major accomplishment – tell everyone about it!
2. Share a story of inspiration…readers love to hear about people going the extra mile, overcoming adversity or a success story
3. Educate consumers about your latest initiative, event, product or service. Frame it against a common misperception.
4. Go green – people like businesses that help the environment
5. Your recent event was a big hit ~ share who attended, the highlights…
6. Announce a contribution to a charity
7. Share new market studies, research, surveys or polls ~ everyone loves stats
8. Provide helpful hints
9. Promote your event or team sponsorship will connect you to customers looking for the team & event online
10. Debunk a common myth related to your business and brand your business at the same time

I am in advertising, so when I design something I always have some sort of agenda… to get someone to buy something, donate money, go to an event, well you get my point. Since I do this on a daily basis, I often forget that many artists create art with more pure motives. Peregrine Church, in Seattle, is one such artist.

Church decided that the people of Seattle needed a little cheering up since the weather is often so rainy and gloomy. He came up with the idea of Rainworks–positive messages and art scattered around Seattle that only show up when it rains.

In this rain-activated artwork, Church and his helpers display funny or uplifting messages and sometimes even pictures. Sometimes the only purpose of art is to bring a smile to someone’s face…